He Lives in Them Too
by Eleanor Damaschke
Summary: Scar's final moments- a flashback to the first time he actually felt like he'd done something right. A good memory. How had it gone wrong? Oneshot.


**Disclaimer: **None of the characters below belong to me in any way. Scar, the hyenas, Simba and Nala all belong to Disney. . No matter how much I wish I could own them myself.

. . .

**He Lives in Them, Too**

The fall seemed to last forever, air whistling through his mane, the rain seeming to hold still around him as his paws flailed helplessly. There wasn't a thing to catch, nothing to slow his descent. Wild laughter echoed in his ears as the old lion remembered. The beginning was a long time ago now. It was... it was like looking down at the bottom of the waterhole into another world, isolated and cold and wet.

. . .

_The bleating of antelope almost drowned out the young males thoughts. Why was it that Mufasa always got Sarabi's attention? She was a pretty thing, awfully nice and kind, even to him. Sure he wasn't as good at hunting as Mufasa was, and not as good at fighting, or as good at... anything, really. Panting from close by caught his attention though. Something that wasn't normal. It was too fast and deep to be a lion._

_The dark male looked around, blinking yellow-green eyes against the blazing sun as he tried to locate the source of the sound. Antelope bleated in fear and trotted away from a speckled rock laying on the ground. No, wait- it moved! It was a shock to see it, though the young lion recognized the spotted shape as soon as it moved again. It was a hyena. Looked like it was trying to hunt. But the poor thing's ribs were poking straight through its fur._

"_Are you okay?" He approached slowly, too-big paws padding silently and cautiously closer. There was little response from the hyena at first, but he began to recognize that it was actually quite young. Not nearly old enough to be out on its own._

"_Do I look okay to you?" the hyena growled harshly, revealing itself as a young male, about the lion's own age. Though his voice was gravely, it wasn't much deeper than a cub's. _

"_No," the lion replied truthfully, and with a faint smile, "you look like you need some food." Another antelope let out a bleat of terror and the larger predator looked around. The herd was just beginning to calve, with lots of pregnant females and a few little newborns scattered here and there._

"_If they would stand still," snapped the hyena as he hoisted himself up onto his lanky paws again, "then I'd get one." He couldn't help but chuckle to himself, really. 'If they'd stand still,' it was the most ridicules thing he'd ever heard. The lion watched as the smaller, weaker predator lurched forward after another antelope and slipped, falling in a pathetic heap. It was clear enough that he wouldn't survive if he kept wasting his energy like that. And truth be told, the young lion felt sorry for him. They were in similar situations- the difference being that one was life-and-death, and the other was just pride-or-not. _

"_You just rest for a minute, alright?" Before the hyena could so much as look confused, the male padded forward, the tufts of his patchy mane sticking out at odd angles. He wasn't old enough to have a real mane yet, but it wouldn't be too long now. Within minutes, an antelope was kicking at the hot dust in vain, trying to escape the jaws of death, even as they closed around the delicate windpipe. The dead animal dropped in front of the hyena with a soft, dry thump._

"_What's in if for you?" asked the hyena suspiciously, his spotted coat twitching with the effort of not attacking the food source in front of him. "What's the catch?" When the dark lion shrugged and began to walk away, the hyena called after him. "Hey, can you at least tell me your name?"_

"_Taka. Yours?"_

"_Banzai."_

"_Maybe I'll see you again sometime, Banzai. When you're not quite so hungry."_

. . .

The ground came suddenly and painfully. Something cracked in his narrow chest and his still too-big paws hit the bare rock with softer sounds that hurt just as much. How had things gone so terribly wrong? Everything had seemed to make sense... the pain washed away the indecision and hurt and insecurity of the years. Betrayal and guilt and murder seemed to melt away. Looking up, bright yellow-green eyes found Bonzai, and his sister Shenzi.

"My... my friends..." he smiled weakly, knowing it was too late to repair all that damage.

"Friends? We thought we were the 'enemy.'"


End file.
